My first job, other than babysitting, was at Express during the holidays. At first we were allowed to wear whatever we wanted, but as it got closer to Christmas, we were required to buy four specific articles of clothing from the store — black courdroy pants, a white long-sleeved T-shirt, a dark gray v-neck wool sweater and a hideous gray and black patterned skirt (which they didn’t have in my size, so I had to get one that was too big and safety pin it) — and wear some combination of those items every time we worked on the weekend. As un-festive as it was, it was called “the holiday outfit,” and it’s the closest I’ve ever come to having to wear a uniform for work.

So I had to laugh when someone asked me if I was required to wear red, white and blue for my current job (as a reporter for Stars and Stripes), and/or if this dress was my work uniform.

The answer is no, of course: Stars and Stripes does not have a uniform, and if they did, it probaby would not come from Anthropologie. And while I thought the navy blue shoes and bag helped make this a bit more work-appropriate than, say, turquoise or red, perhaps I should stick to beige accessories next time. A blazer or cardigan may also help, but it was about a million degrees that day, so that wasn’t happening.

Despite how patriotic the color palette may be, I definitely won’t stop wearing this dress. It was a birthday gift from my mother-in-law, and I love it way too much! In fact, maybe I should just make it my (unofficial) uniform after all. It’s certainly a lot cuter than the holiday outfit.

Dress: Anthropologie (on sale!), Shoes: Poetic Licence (old, similar here and here), Bag: J.Crew (old, similiar here and here), Heart bobby pin: Ban.do, Lipstick: Trish McEvoy “Sheer Hollywood”